Read a Movie

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is one fictional character you’ll never forget.  Even when he faces the unthinkable, this intelligent and tender-hearted boy maintains his rabid curiosity and unflinching integrity.  Whether he's devising an invention for the betterment of mankind or corresponding with an everyday hero or a literal icon, Oskar’s personality inspires nearly everyone he meets.  

In the year following his father’s death on 9-11, the tenacious young Oskar undertakes his most ambitious challenge yet – an expedition through each of the boroughs of New York and a quest to learn more about the parent he lost so suddenly. 

But September 11th wasn’t the only tragedy to strike the Schell Family and while Oskar’s search introduces him to a world beyond his own, it also uncovers secrets that originated long before his birth.  Jonathan Safar Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is an inspiring family saga that reveals both the fragile and resilient sides of the human spirit.

Please join us on Wednesday, November 13th for this Oscar-nominated film.  On November 20th our Read a Movie book club will discuss the novel and its adaptation.  Both events take place at 10:30 a.m. in the meeting room at our Post Road Library.  To receive a reminder email for this event please register here. 

Alicia Cavitt
Information Specialist

Staff Picks

A grieving college professor finds solace in composing the biography of a silent film star who disappeared at the beginning of Hollywood’s Golden Age.  Imagine the author’s surprise when the actor he and everyone else presumes is dead, insists on a meeting. 

Is it a hoax?  Where has the actor been hiding for the past sixty years?  And why is he revealing himself now?

Paul Auster’s The Book of Illusions uses stories within stories to trace a life spent both in and out of the spotlight and contrast two lives marred by tragedy.  Film aficionados and fans of mystery will love this intriguing novel.

Alicia Cavitt
Information Specialist 

Staff Picks

October “dares” me to read a chillingly disturbing ghost story. If you, too, enjoy scaring yourself senseless, one of the best authors to fulfill that need is Stephen King. King has written many great horror novels, but The Shining is regarded as one of the scariest horror stories ever told. I recently reread the novel after 35 years, and it’s every bit as terrifying now as it was then. In addition if you have watched the movie adaptation, you should definitely read the novel, as it differs in some very significant ways.

The Shining is the story of Jack Torrance, his wife, Wendy, and their six year-old son, Danny. Jack takes a job as a caretaker of the stately old Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies during the off-season, after his drinking problems and violent temper have left him desperate for a job. Harsh winter conditions and total isolation slowly wreak havoc on his mind and his descent into madness is both powerful and terrifying. Young Danny has “the shine” – psychic abilities to see and know things he should not. The Overlook, a living entity all its own, reveals a creepy and sinister past. Ultimately a story of survival, The Shining will keep you on the edge of your seat, and hiding under your covers, until the last page.

The sequel, Doctor Sleep, picks up with a middle-aged Danny who works in a nursing home using his “shining” abilities to comfort dying patients. As of this writing, Doctor Sleep is #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List for Fiction. It appears King has worked his magic yet again. I hope you enjoy both The Shining and Doctor Sleep, and sweet dreams!

Beth Moore
Information Specialist